The Lazarus Effect
by InvaderQix
Summary: Cryonic freezing was fiction until the Lazarus family came around. At the height of the oil-eating bug disaster, Amanda Lazarus is left to fend by herself, frozen in a cryogenic chamber for three centuries. She is found by Drs. Valen and Cable, and she struggles to adjust to life in a scary new future.
1. Prologue: Bug

Amanda Lazarus sat in the middle of her parent's laboratory, eagerly looking through a large biology textbook. The six year old could hardly hold the book up, but even as her hands shook, she refused to place the book down.

"Amanda dear, why don't you take that in your room?" her mother called from the other side of the lab.

"Umm.." Amanda placed her fuzzy pink zebra print bookmark on the page she'd finished reading, and closed it. She picked it up and placed it in her little red wagon and picked up the handle. Her mother looked up and smiled at her. "Biology already? I didn't learn about that until I was fourteen."

Amanda shrugged and pulled the wagon out of the lab and into the living room, where her father sat on their big white couch.

"Amanda's gonna be our little biology professor, aren't you my little Einstein?"

Amanda nodded eagerly, and leaned over the arm of the couch to kiss her father on the cheek.

"I'm gonna be the best biology teacher ever!" she said, jumping up and down eagerly.

Her father gently mussed up her hair and she giggled, then she resumed trekking her wagon back to her room.

Even though she didn't understand anything in the book, Amanda read it every week until she turned fourteen, and stunned her teacher and classmates with her knowledge.

Amanda quickly became the person students went to for biology help. She excelled in science and math, and soon began getting scholarships left and right. By the time she was seventeen, she'd been named valedictorian of her senior class.

All the while, her parents had been working on a new invention, one only brought to life in science fiction novels and movies.

They'd called it the Lazarus Machine. It was supposed to safely cryogenically freeze a human being and after any amount of time, thaw them. So far, they hadn't succeeded and they'd lost many test subjects.

"Mother, how come you only test the machines on elderly people? What if it won't have the same effect on younger people because their bodies are healthier? Won't that have some effect on the results?"

Her mother thought for a second, then nodded. "You have a very good point there Amanda. I guess we should let you help work on it too."

Amanda shook her head. "You've been studying this way longer than me. Really all I did was bring you the information about that frog that can survive being frozen."

Amanda's mother kissed her on the head. "I'm very grateful for that my dear. Well, could you call the main lab and ask them to open a waiting list for people ages 18-30?"

Amanda nodded and walked to the office and picked up the receiver, dialing the number for the lab.

_"__Yes, this is Christina Valen?__"_

"Hello Christina, it's Amanda. My mother requested that a waiting list be opened for people ages 18-30."

_"__Sure thing Amanda! How__'__s the project going?__"_

Amanda sighed. "Not so good. My parents think the government might be onto us and the test subjects are all dying."  
>Amanda heard Christina's stressed sigh and a soft '<em>goddamn it<em>'.

_"__Do you think maybe they should create a protectant of some kind? Like maybe a spray, or even a suit?__"_

Amanda scratched her chin. "I'll run that by them. How's the baby doing?"

_"__He is kicking like all hell. My husband thinks I might end up delivering in a few days.__"_

Amanda giggled. "He's eager to meet Mommy and Daddy! I know I would be."

Christina laughed heartily. _"__Believe me, Merrick and I are eager to meet him too!__"_

"_Amanda! How long does it take to make a quick phone call?!__"_ her mother shouted from in the lab.

"I should get going, but please, do tell me when the baby's coming."

_"__Sure thing! I__'__ll talk to you soon. Have a nice day!__"_

Amanda hung up the phone and walked back to her mother.

* * *

><p><em>Two Years later<em>

"Amanda! Christian! Come here!"

Amanda's mother was standing over the latest Lazarus prototype. Amanda and her father ran over to her mother, their lab coats trailing behind them.

"Tamara, what on God's green Earth are you yelling f- …oh my God."

Amanda looked over her father's shoulder, then gasped.

The girl's name was Mariana. She had been frozen last year, and she was alive.

"Um…what year is it?" Mariana asked.

"You've only been frozen for a year. It's June 16, 2033." Amanda said, smiling.

Amanda's mother shined a small flashlight into Mariana's eyes. Mariana flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Looks like she's perfectly fine. Mariana, I'm going to tap your knee with this hammer, and when I do, I want you to kick out your leg, okay?"

Mariana nodded.

"Mariana, what did you feel during your time asleep?" Amanda's mother tapped Mariana's knee with the hammer and she kicked her leg.

"It felt cold when I was first falling asleep. I didn't feel anything after that. It feels like I just woke up from a regular night's sleep, except I didn't dream about anything."

Amanda's father wrote on his clipboard and nodded. "Ladies, I think the Lazarus machine is now fully functional."

"This is absolutely amazing!" Amanda jumped up and down excitedly, then hugged her parents.

After Mariana woke up, the Lazarus family took a long three month vacation to Hawaii while more machines were being built. By the time they'd gotten back, the lab had five machines, but grim news about the war and the destructive oil-eating bacteria.

Amanda was excited to see Christina when they'd gotten back, but her excitement was short-lived.

"Mr. Lazarus! Thank God you're back! The government is going to destroy the machines and arrest you for all the subjects that died!"

"But those people gave consent!" Amanda yelled.

"It doesn't matter. They don't like the idea and they're doing everything they can to destroy it. Not only that but the oil eating bacteria is destroying everything! We are all doomed!"

Amanda's other grabbed Christina. "Where are your husband and son?"

Christina hung her head. "In California. With Merrick's sister."

"They have a fighting chance. It hasn't reached them. Look, there's five machines and four of us. Let's put them to use."  
>Christina looked at her wide- eyed. "Who would wake us up? What if we are never woken up?"<p>

"It's a sacrifice we have to make." Amanda said. "But, if you're too frightened, you should join your son and husband, and I think you should go with her mother…father. They'll need you. I am fully willing to be frozen, and I'm not scared. Just give me all of the notes and I'll take them in the machine with me. I have faith that I'll be found."

"Amanda, no. You've just begun college! What about your future?"  
>"What future will I have? The oil-eating bug and the war has destroyed it. Please, mother let me do this. Haven't you always believed in me? Why are you doubting me now?"<p>

Her parents looked at each other, then with tears in his eyes, her father packed all of their notes on the machines and the studies into a Ziploc bag, then handed them to her.

"I love you so much Amanda. Your mother and I both."

"I know Daddy." Amanda said, hugging them both. A solitary tear fell from her left eye and clung to her chin.

"Be safe." She said, walking to the prototype Mariana had awakened from. It had been fully refurbished and was now an official machine.

Her mother solemnly injected a sedative into her right arm and her father helped her lay back onto the soft cushioning of the bed, placing the notes on her stomach and crossing her arms over them.

Christina kissed her on the forehead and closed the glass over her.

"We love you." Her mother said, and pressed one of the buttons on the machine. Cold air seeped into the chamber and the machine slowly lowered into the ground. Amanda remembered the story of Lazarus, the man who died and was resurrected by Jesus. She thought it was all baloney, but then she began to realize that the chamber was shaped an awful lot like a coffin…

She heard a scream and was broken from her thoughts. Gunshots were fired and she saw her mother's body fall into the hole and on top of the cryochamber.

Her mother's mouth and eyes were open wide in horror and blood seeped out of her chest.

An explosion rang out and Amanda began to scream as the lab crumbled on top of them.

Her world was dark, and the sedative had finally kicked in. Amanda was gone.


	2. Awake

"So, what's her name?"

"We have no idea."

"How old is she?"

"Not sure. Looks to be late teens. Probably old enough for the Pretty surgery."

"Where did she come from?"  
>"We think she's a Rusty. The notes we found in the chamber with her are typed and handwritten, not to mention her clothing suggests just that."<p>

"Dr. Valen?"  
>Christopher Valen looked at the nurse that had just walked in.<p>

"The girl is awake. She seems to have been traumatized by something, we believe the skeleton that was on top of the cryogenic chamber was someone she knew."

"Ah, yes. I'll see her in a few minutes. In the meantime, just keep her calm and make sure that she's fed and hydrated."

Dr. Valen turned to his colleague, Dr. Cable. "We'll continue this discussion later Dr. Cable. We'll bring the girl to you as soon as we're done evaluating her."

She nodded and exited the building. Dr. Valen then turned and walked into the room.

The girl was shaking, slowly sipping a protein shake, her brown hair hanging limply in front of her face. She was wearing a blue hospital gown.

"Hello Dr. Valen." The girl perked up upon hearing his name. "We've gotten her reports. She doesn't have any visible brain damage, but she was traumatized by something. Surprisingly, she has no bone or muscular atrophies, she hasn't aged at all, she seems to have been perfectly frozen as she was in…2033."

Dr. Valen nodded and stepped in front of the girl, who looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

"Are you…are you Christina's grandson?" she whispered.

"More like her three-times great grandson. Dear, you've been in that chamber for over three hundred years. It's the year 310."

The girl's eyes widened and she dropped her protein shake. The nurse caught it and placed it on her night stand.

"What's your name?" Dr. Valen asked, pulling a stool towards him and making a finger gesture towards the wallscreen.

"My name…is Amanda Lazarus."

"Okay Amanda, and how old are you?"  
>"Nineteen. I was valedictorian of my senior class in high school and I had three mathematics scholarships and two biology scholarships."<p>

"Valedictorian?" Dr. Valen had no idea what that was, and neither did the nurse.

"V-valedictorian means I had the best grades of my senior class. Basically my report card was above 150 other students. Scholarships mean colleges paid me money to attend their schools. My parents were already pretty wealthy, but the scholarship money was a huge plus."

"So…you're nineteen years old, you're incredibly smart in mathematics and biology, and you apparently helped your parents build this machine?"

Amanda nodded, still shaking.

Dr. Valen nodded to the nurse, who laid Amanda back onto the giant pillows that lay on the bed and injected her arm with an anesthetic.

"This is just to help you sleep Amanda. You've had an incredibly long journey and you need rest. We'll explain more to you tomorrow."

Amanda sighed weakly and closed her eyes, a solitary tear falling from her left eye and clinging to her chin.

Dr. Valen exited the room and the nurse followed.

"She didn't have the reaction most Uglies have towards Pretties." The nurse commented.

"Of course she didn't. She's a Rusty, and she doesn't understand the city like Uglies do."

"You do have a point. What if she rejects the surgery?"

Dr. Valen smiled. "She won't. Once she sees how beautiful we'll make her, and how strong and healthy she'll be, she wouldn't think on rejecting the surgery. But that's another time. She needs to be able to adjust to the city first."

The nurse nodded. "What shall I tell the news crews?"

"Tell them that shortly before the fall of the Rusties, cryonic freezing had been perfected, and due to such events we have discovered a real live Rusty."

The nurse nodded and left the room. Dr. Valen sighed deeply. This girl, Amanda, had known his three-times great-grandmother. All those years, sleeping, never aging. She was the last of her family. She was all alone. Why had it taken so long to find her?

"Ping to Dr. Cable." Dr. Valen said.

"No need. What's happening?" Dr. Valen flinched at Dr. Cable's razor voice.

"You ah, startled me there. Well, we're going to alert the press and let them know that an actual Rusty has been found alive."

Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow. "No. Call it off."

"Why? Tilda…this is a real life Rusty we're talking about. She knew my one of my great-grandmothers!"

Dr. Cable scoffed. "I care nothing for sentiments. We don't need our Pretties having a meltdown because a Rusty is living among them. We have enough problems to deal with, like Diego and those pills."

Dr. Valen groaned. "They wouldn't be panicking for very long. She's tame enough as it is. We may not even have to give her lesions."

"They all need lesions. Especially our special little pretties." With that Dr. Cable walked off.

Dr. Valen sighed and walked back to Amanda's room. She slept soundly, and he reopened the wallscreen. Amanda's face popped up, unsmiling, hair limp, eyes crazed. It was the first picture they'd taken of her.

"I'll make you beautiful Amanda. I just can't protect you from the lesions."

With that said, he began working on her face. She had relatively clear skin, so he got rid of what few blemishes she did have. He made her eyes larger and doe-like, and changed them from dull brown to a gorgeous sparkling green, and they shone like emeralds. Her lips were full enough as they were, so he added gloss to them. Her nose was small and cute, so he left it alone and moved on to her hair. He made it wavy and a brighter brown with a red tint to it.

Yes, now Amanda was beautiful, and soon her real face would be too.

He saved her old and new face to the hospital's interface and left the room.

* * *

><p><em>About a Week Later<em>

Tally Youngblood hardly ever looked at the news feeds, but what she'd just seen had shocked her.

Scientists had found an actual Rusty, and she'd been frozen in a cryonic chamber for three hundred years.

"Exciting, isn't it Tally-wa?" Zane said, drinking his coffee and switching the news ping off.

"Yeah, but I have to wonder, is she gonna be turned into a Pretty?"

"Probably, but she's already nineteen, so she might not even be moved to New Pretty Town."

Tally thought to herself. The Rusty girl, Amanda was her name, was the last of her family. The name hadn't carried, and according to her history, she was her parents' only child. She was the last Lazarus, and once she got married, if she ever would, her name wouldn't exist anymore.

"That must be hard, knowing you're the last in your family." Tally mused.

"Zane-la! Tally-wa!" Shay ran to them.

"It's the most bubbly thing ever! There is a R-"

"Rusty living among us and she's the last of her kind." Tally cut her off. Shay's face fell.

"Sorry Shay-la, but Fausto-la beat you to the ping." Zane laughed.

"It's totally head-spinning! I wonder if we'll ever actually get to meet her. That would be bubbly."

"I doubt it Shay-la." But at the same time Tally had said that, there was an older-looking New Pretty being led to Pulcher Mansion, followed by hovercams.

"Is that her?" Zane asked.

Tally had run up behind the hovercams, following them into the mansion.

"Silly Tally-wa." Shay laughed.


	3. Uncanny

Amanda saw the other Pretty following behind her and Dr. Souxsie. At first she thought she lived in the mansion, but it soon became clear that she was following them.

"Doctor, there's a girl following us. What does she want?"

The doctor laughed. "She's probably just another awestruck Pretty. After all, you're technically the last living Rusty."

"She's creepy though. All of the Pretties here are creepy. They always have that blank stare on their faces. It's like the Uncanny Valley came to life. It's inhuman."

"You'll get used to it. You've only known Rusty faces, so I think it's normal for you to feel that way."

Amanda sighed and continued to walk with the doctor, trying to ignore the nosy Pretty.

Soon, they came up to a room, on the door it said _Maestro._

Dr. Souxsie opened the door and Amanda walked in, looking around in awe.

"This is all for me? Everything? Even the bed, and the closet? Is that a Jacuzzi?!"

"_Welcome home Amanda-la! I__'__m Maestro. Please let me know how I can help you settle in.__"_

_"_This is your new room Amanda. Everything in here is yours. I've already pinged a breakfast tray for you, so all you need to know for now is how to use the nanofacture unit."  
>"The what?" Amanda asked. "Don't you mean manufacture unit?"<p>

The doctor shook her head. "It manufactures clothing nanos, so we call it a nanofacture unit."  
>Amanda shrugged and walked over to the unit.<p>

Dr. Souxsie nodded. "Tell it what you want. It'll form right on you."  
>Amanda slowly approached the machine.<p>

"Ah…" Amanda hesitated.

"It doesn't bite." Dr. Souxsie encouraged her.

"Ah…just make me a yellow sundress with white flowers." Amanda gasped as she was surrounded by the nanos and they formed a yellow dress on her.

"Do you like it?" Dr. Souxsie asked, smiling in the mirror.

Amanda nodded. She sighed at her reflection. The wide green eyes, the full pink lips, her tiny nose and wavy red hair. She looked like a living doll.

'_I am one with the Uncanny Valley now.__'_ She thought solemnly. She kept staring in the mirror until the doctor left.

The room was spacious. In the middle was a heart-shaped bed with a ton of pillows propped up on it. It was all different shades of cream and pink. The carpet was soft under her feet, and it was also pink.

_'__So this room is supposed to have a lovey-dovey feel, I guess.__'_ Amanda laid on the bed and smiled happily at its softness. It was nice to have something in this horribly creepy future to be warm and cuddly.

Even though it was the middle of the day, Amanda wrapped herself up in the covers of her bed and fell fast asleep, more peaceful than she'd ever been since she'd been woken up.

* * *

><p>"So, did you talk to her?" Shay asked.<p>

Tally shook her head. They were at Garbo Mansion, and the bash was a formal wear outing. Shay wore a beautiful ballroom gown and Tally had on an A-line strapless gown.

"I didn't get to actually talk to her, but I know which room is hers. It's called Maestro."

Shay tipped back her champagne flute and sighed happily. "Are you gonna go visit her or something?"

Tally shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen her socializing with other Pretties, and the news feeds about her only show her as an Ugly. Actually, I don't think she ever came out of her room today."

Shay giggled. "I've never heard of an antisocial Pretty."

"Maybe she just needs time to adjust. She's been frozen in a coffin-thing for three centuries, and everything is probably really scary-making for her. I certainly would want to be left alone to adjust if I were her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Tally-wa." Shay turned to Fausto and Tachs and started telling them another story about her Ugly days, and Tally walked over to one of the big windows.

'_She must be so lonely without her family. Maybe I will visit her later.__'_

* * *

><p>"Drs. Souxsie and Valen, report."<p>

Dr. Valen walked into Dr. Cable's office, followed by Dr. Souxsie.

"What news do you have for me?"

Dr. Souxsie spoke first. "Amanda seems to be adjusting very slowly. She states that the Pretties are creepy-looking, ah… something about the Uncanny Valley."

Dr. Cable nodded. "Yes, I know of it. So, she thinks the new Pretties look creepy, huh? I wonder how she feels when she looks in the mirror. I want her brought in for testing, immediately."  
>"Oh Tilda, think about this for a second. She just needs time to adjust to her new surroundings. There's no need for rash decisions!"<br>Dr. Cable glared at Dr. Valen. "Don't call me by my first name. I'm Dr. Cable to you, not Matilda or Tilda or Tildy. Never again, am I understood?"

"Yes, Dr. Cable."  
>"Amanda Lazarus will be brought in for testing immediately, am I understood?"<p>

"Yes Dr. Cable."

Dr. Cable smiled her cruel-Pretty smile and dismissed the other two doctors. She looked at the sleeping Rusty girl. She knew Dr. Valen wouldn't have the balls to give the girl lesions. She'd have to do it herself.

"Damn it all to hell." She muttered, pulling up her wallscreen and starting a voicenote.

"Amanda, this is Dr. Cable. Welcome back. It is my understanding that you are uncomfortable in this city. My hope is that you will soon see this as a way to start anew. I know you expressed that since you are the last in the Lazarus family that your name could not continue on, and therefore did not want to marry and bear children, but if it is any consolation to you, if you were to find a husband, we could have an agreement that he would take your last name instead of the reverse. This way, your legacy can live on. I wish for you to see this as a blessing, instead of a curse. You're very lucky you were found on that day.

End Dr. Cable voicenotes, 11/20/310"

Dr. Cable saved the voicenote to be played for Amanda after the lesions were given to her.

"Um…Dr. Cable?"

Amanda stood in the doorway. Dr. Cable nodded to her.

"Dr. Valen tried to stop me. He said I was getting myself into a horrible situation. I don't know what he means. I was only told that I needed tests done to make sure my body was cooperating with the surgery and to have counseling sessions to make sure I'd be able to adjust."

"Dr. Valen is…unstable. Ever since he found out that you were friends with one of his ancestors, he's been obsessed with you, wanting to find out more about you. He thinks we're trying to steal you away from him. He's being contained right now."

"So, he's the crazy one and not you?"

Dr. Cable smiled. Amanda didn't react. She'd seen crazier body mods in her time, and Dr. Cable was just another adult.

"Rest assured, you're safe under my care Amanda. I'll be supervising you from now on."

Amanda shrugged and followed the nurse out the door. Dr. Cable was ticked that she hadn't gotten a reaction out of the girl.

"Damn that Valen." Dr. Cable hissed at the door.

"Just you wait. I'll break that 'holier-than-thou' attitude of hers until she's just like all the rest of those bubbleheaded little fools."


	4. One Of Them

Amanda pursed her lips at the reflection in the mirror. Was the red dress pretty enough? She'd coordinated her outfit in monocolor for her bash since that was the theme, but was red pretty?  
>She thought the red highlights in her firey waves were pretty. She thought her sexy red pumps looked great on her. But this dress, you could only see one of her shoes through the knee high slit in it.<p>

"Ummm...make the dress way shorter, like to my knees. And make it crinkly. Also, make some darker red roses going up the sides and make the pumps darker to match."

As the nanos shifted on her body, she thought about one of the boys she'd just recently met. His name was Aki, and he was gorgeous. Everyone here was, but Aki really caught Amanda's attention. At the last bash she'd gone to, he'd never taken his eyes off of her. They'd danced all night, the three-hundred year old Rusty and the seventeen year old Pretty.

Amanda hated to think about the fact that she was literally centuries old stuck in a teenage body. She hated the fact that she was centuries old. She had the feeling that the more Aki thought about it, the less he'd want to be around her. She wanted him to like her, because she liked him.

Yes, Amanda really did like Aki. She hoped he really liked her.

* * *

><p>"So, what was it like? Back then?"<p>

Tally and Shay were on either side of Amanda, all three of them sipping pink champagne. The entire ballroom of Pulcher Mansion was decorated in pink. The lights were pink, the food and drinks were pink, the curtains were pink, everything was pink.

Except for the party guests, of course. No, the party guests were the rainbow of the room. All different monocolored outfits surrounded Amanda, Tally in all blue and Shay in all gold.

Amanda took a nervous drink of her champagne. "It was absolutely nothing like this. When I was younger, the economy sucked, but since my parents were brilliant scientists, we were well off. I was an excellent student in school and since the age of six, I'd wanted to be a biology professor. I-"  
>"What do you mean you were 'well off'?" Tally asked.<p>

"Oh, my parents made a lot of money. They were rich." she whispered. Her parents, the brilliant scientists, murdered because of their research.

She'd looked up a bunch of archives. Not only did she not have any siblings, her father never made it to California. She remembered her mother's fate. She'd never forget seeing her mother bleed to death on the cryo-chamber. Unlike her parents, Christina was lucky enough to make it to California, or Dr. Valen would have never been born. There were plenty of Valens in history, but not one Lazarus outside of herself and her parents.

She truly was the last Lazarus.

Amanda felt a tightness on her heart. She'd never see her parents again. They were long gone, nothing more than skeletons. If only they were here to see their three-hundred year old daughter. To see that she'd been made into a living doll. Would they be excited? Would they be turned into dolls too?

"Wow…you look beautiful."

Amanda looked up smiled. "Doesn't everyone here?" She said, pulling Aki into a tight hug.

"That is true, but in my opinion, you're the most beautiful." He smiled at her and she blushed deeply. A slow number started playing and all the pretties in the room raced for dancing partners. Aki took Amanda's hand and lead her down the stairs to the middle of the room. She smiled up at him and laid her head on his shoulder. She couldn't wait to show him what she finally figured out to make her dress do.

The song started to speed up and Amanda spaced herself slightly from Aki.

_'__Back and forth and back and forth and spin!__'_ Amanda spun in a swift move, nearly a blur as the waist of her dress blossomed into a huge lily petal skirt embroidered with roses up the side. She heard many gasps and smiled when she saw Aki's eyes light up in amazement. His gaze lifted to hers and he pulled her closer.

"You never cease to surprise and amaze me Amanda." He whispered.

Amanda giggled and they continued to dance, lost in the music and each other.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Amanda woke up in her bed with hardly any memory of the night before. She was still wearing her dress, but she couldn't find her shoes. She heard someone groan and shift in the bed. Someone was in her bed?!<p>

She slowly slid out from under the comforter and turned to face her mysterious and unwanted visitor.

The person shifted again, then turned to face Amanda.

"Aki?" she asked softly.

"Morning, Amanda." He yawned, then sat up in the bed. He too was fully dressed, minus his shoes.

"Sorry if I'm intruding. I'll go back to my own room now." He walked over to her and hugged her.

"I had fun yesterday, Aki. I really did." Amanda smiled at him.

"I had fun too. I'll see you later, then?" He walked to the door, but she grabbed his hand.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No..I just…" Amanda blushed, then pulled him close and kissed him.

Aki pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tightly. Amanda felt her heart race, and after what seemed like hours, she pulled away from him.

"Wow. My first kiss." She was breathing heavily, but smiling.

"I'll see you later, beauty." Aki smiled, walking to the door, which quickly opened and closed behind him.

Amanda walked into her bathroom and filled up the bathtub. Bubbles sat on the surface and she slowly lowered herself into the tub. She touched her lips, remembering the softness and warmth of Aki's lips against hers.

"Maestro, playback on all pings."

_Understood. First message: _

_'__Amanda, your dress was amazing and I was wondering if you could show us how to do it.__' __From Shay._

_Next message: __'__Amanda, I was wondering if you__'__d meet me at the floating ice rink at Nefertiti Stadium at 3:00 PM today.__' __From Zane._

_Last message: __'__Amanda, this is Dr. Cable. I__'__m glad to see you finally adjusting to the city. As you know, you__'__ve been living in New Pretty Town for two months, and next week is your monthly analysis. This is a reminder. Respond immediately.__' __From Dr. Cable.__"_

Amanda sighed. She was tired of all the tests. When were they going to be sure that she was physically and mentally healthy?

"Message to Dr. Cable." She huffed.

"_What would you like the message to say?__"_ the room asked.

"Thank you for the reminder, see you next week." Amanda rolled her eyes.

"_Received and understood. Message sent. Is there anything else you would like for me to do?__"_

"Voice interface off."

Amanda lingered in her warm bath for a long while, then stepped out and dried herself off.


End file.
